It's been a great year for the Naylor family and since the last time I posted was for last Christmas I'm going to try to jam every single thing we did into our Christmas update to make up for it... Just Kidding!!! However, I doubt this will be super short.
The BIG events in our year:
We Moved!!! We made an offer on a finished house which was accepted and then fell through... after that it was slim pickings but we were determined to find something. We did. If you are interested to learn more about it go HERE. (just kidding, I'll add a link as soon as I write a post).
My baby brother Jonathan married his sweetheart Briana on May 18th and we are super excited to have her as a new member of our family!!!
In June I drove with all 4 kids to Maryland stopping off to visit friends in Kansas City and Indianapolis along the way (and beg a place to stay for the night). Abby especially loved our visit to the Indianapolis zoo where we got to pet sharks. In Maryland we celebrated my Grandmother's 90th Birthday. Brian met us in Maryland and we all drove to New Hampshire for our yearly visit and had fun visiting the ocean, getting soaked and freezing and a pancake house where we were chased by goats, watching the firework show in Wolfeboro Bay... but most of all we enjoyed playing at Lake Winnepesaukee.
In September Abby turned 8 and she was Baptized in November. We were grateful that my parents, Brian's mom, his sister Staci, nieces Alli & Ashley and their children were all able to make the journey here and be a part of it.
We made two trips to the Denver zoo one with Grandpa Rudy, Emma & Carson and one with Abby's best friend Holly and her mom Annette. When Brian's mom came to visit we went to the Butterfly Pavilion where everyone but Daddy held a tarantula.
We got a Beagle puppy from the Dumb Friends League, and we're fairly sure there is some dachshund mixed in there, in September. He came with the name "Ernie", which we liked but we like "Howie" better so he is officially named "Howitzer Ernie Naylor" and is now 5 mos. old. We add him to Simon the cat (6 yrs) and the 5 turtles that we inherited with our backyard pond.
Most of our free-time has been taken up with home renovations (see link above) and we're hoping to put all of that behind us by the end of 2014 so that we can get back to some adventuring... of course, we'll be sure to sneak a few adventures in...
Sarah: Also got older (darnit!), stopped leading music and began teaching sunbeams (the 3-4 year olds in our church), painted every room in our new home excepting the master bathroom which is up next, painted a set of cupboards, 3 bookshelves, 2 step stools, 1 dresser turned entertainment center, 1 side table, 2 twin beds (bunk beds), 1 kids play table with 3 chairs, 1 curio cabinet, 1 hanging shelf and multiple picture frames, and I'm reading even more than ever now that I've discovered how to listen to books double time on my phone, I still prefer a book in my hands, however.
Abbigayle: turned 8, started the 3rd grade, was in her school's talent show last spring singing and dancing to "Despicable Me" and was super cute AND funny AND brave, She was one of the younger kids in the show, Has taken 2 piano lessons and is already playing like a pro, is obsessed with sharks and wants to be a marine biologist when she grows up, and is already a big hit with the boys (scary) who she sits with at lunch.
Virginia: turned 6, started the 1st grade, is one of the funniest people I have ever known- has terrific timing, lost her first teeth (within 48 hours), started taking ballet/tap this year and had a performance just before Christmas, is still a girl scout (cookie orders, anyone?), loves Harry Potter legos and batman, still wants a job in pyrotechnics when she grows up and is becoming a terrific reader this year.
Taggart: turned 3, is pretty much an unstoppable force, has more energy than mom can keep up with and the resulting shenanigans keep us at wits end daily and sometimes hourly but keep the other kids in giggles, is too cute for anyone to stay mad at long, is talking up a storm, and Mom can't wait until the weather is nice again so that he can don his firefighter rain boots and hit the backyard with the puppy again, Tag wants to be a firefighter or Iron Man when he grows up.
Finnegan: turned 1, is deceptively sweet and quiet, he's a little thinker and loves trying to figure out how things work, I'm concerned that as he gets older he will be the mastermind to all of Tag's shenanigans, has become very talented at blowing kisses, loves to climb to high places and then dance (because getting up high isn't dangerous enough) and has everyone in this family wrapped around his little finger.
Our Favorite Things
Favorite Saying...
Brian: "I can't handle Tag anymore, you deal with him."
Sarah: It will be so great when the (fill in the blank with "kitchen" "front room", "basement"etc.)
is finished."
Abby: "Oh, I know..." (constantly coming up with great plans)
Ginny: Why does _____ sometimes always _______?" ex.= "Why does Finn sometimes always climb on the table?" (even though I repeatedly tell her that sometimes means NOT always).
Taggart: "I don't love it." and "I didn't make good choices."
Finn: "Owie" and "Help"
Favorite Book...
Brian: Inheritance by Christopher Paolini
Sarah: Peace Like A River by Leif Enger
Abby: Fablehaven by Brandon Mull
Ginny: Pete the Cat: I Love My White Shoes by Eric Litwin, ill. by James Dean
Tag: Eight Silly Monkeys Jumping on the Bed by Steve Haskamp
Finn: The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle
Favorite Movie/Show...
Brian: Castle (It's secretly Downton Abbey but he'll deny it)
Sarah: It's between Sherlock or Modern Family... choices, choices.
Abby: Chasing Mavericks
Ginny:The Invention of Hugo Cabret
Tag: The Nightmare Before Christmas
Finn: The Pink Panther
Favorite Song...
Brian: Bangs Bricks + Mortar
Sarah: Dream Priscilla Ahn
Abby: Everything At Once Lenka
Ginny: Call Me Maybe Carly Rae Jepson
Finn:Anything he can dance to (I'm hoping next year we'll be able to narrow it down)
Favorite Toy...
Brian: His phone and his laptop (duh)
Sarah: Jogging stroller
Abby: Sparkling Princesses
Ginny: Harry Potter legos
Tag: Mommy's make-up, baby powder, water, nutella, etc.
Finn: a push car that Aunt Jodi sent him & his new slide
Favorite YouTube Video...
Brian: Animals Can Be Jerks
Sarah: I've been wasting a lot of time watching crash course videos
Abby: What Does the Fox Say?
Ginny: The Muppets: Ode to Joy
Tag:
Favorite feature of our new house...
Brian: having our own house
Sarah: the oven/stove
Abby: the adobe fireplace (now gone)
Ginny: the playroom
Tag: the scary room in the basement (now gone)
Finn: the jetted tub
HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!
See you next December...
Okay, resolution (again) to post more this year.
The infamous Spiderman chair! Was that before or after you lost all your luck? :-)
ReplyDeleteEven though I knew about most of the life-changing events that happened to your family, it was nice to have some of the details filled in . . . and I loved your list of favorites! Happy New Year!
Ahhh, that was before:)
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